I’m pretty excited to share this with you, but I have to warn you first. My craft room is in the basement. It’s not all glamourous and shiny like the ones you see featured in big magazines. It involves concrete walls, exposed plumbing, laundry machines and all the ugly things you find in a basement. It’s not pretty, but it’s a large space and a great place to keep my overwhelming amount of craft supplies contained. When we bought the house, we took a paint sprayer and 20 gallons of white paint to all the dingy walls. So it’s a far cry better than it was, but it’s still not pretty.

So with that disclaimer out of the way, I bring you my great big wonderful craft table, complete with cork board and magnetic chalkboard! Here’s a before picture… eewww.

And an after…

I definitely didn’t want cords all over the table top of my table, so hubby drilled a hole in the middle and attached a power strip upside down under the table. This way all the cords go through the center and none of them will be stretched across the table top.

That caused an issue for my glue gun though. Since the glue gun does not have an on/off switch, it can’t be left plugged in. So we used those one-hole straps I mentioned above to run a small extension cord through so that it pokes out under the table right where I work. There’s enough slack in the cord too so I can stretch the glue gun across the table and work with it from anywhere.

So there’s still a lot of work to be done as you can see from the mess laying around, but things are so much better and I have so much room to work now! See more pics of Amanda’s craft room on Crafts by Amanda.

Do you have an organized craft room? What are your favorite storage methods?

I have been an artist and crafter for as long as I can remember, but only in the last several years have I been blessed enough to have an actual studio room all to myself! My studio has been a work in progress over the years as my interests changed and I tried out different organizational methods. I finally hit upon something that works really well for me and I am excited to show it to you here! It is still not totally complete but it is very close.

My studio set up is done purely for function and ease. I do not worry about the looks or decorativeness. I do not worry about lining up jars and jars of embellishments by color. I wanted a space that gave me maximum creative ease without getting me bogged down in excessive organization. I also needed to be mindful of my budget. Full kitchen cabinets and a built in sink would be lovely but what I really like to spend my money on is supplies and tools! My studio occupies one room in our basement – our basement is open so there is nothing blocking it from the rest of the basement area which I really like. Although the room is on the smaller side, I wanted as much workspace as possible. I purchased one 8’ table and two 6’ tables over the course of several years, in addition to a drafting table I have had for quite some time. My husband came up with a genius idea to arrange them in a spiral (the spiral of crafting insanity he calls it).

When I enter the “spiral” I have a 4-drawer file cabinet and 2 large shelves along the left wall. The shelves were purchased at Home Depot, both on sale, and they are very deep – more so than a standard shelf.

The file cabinet was one of the more expensive items I have purchased, but worth every penny. I have all of my 8 ½” x 11” paper in the middle two drawers organized in hanging files by color.

By using a swatch of each to write the color name on for the tab, I can see at a quick glance what color I want to use. The bottom drawer contains all of my specialty papers such as grunge board, acrylic packaging, and sketches and other items I want easy access to. The top drawer is for scraps. I group scraps very simply by color – so all shades of orange go in a hanging folder, all shades of purple in another, etc.

Originally I used the plastic bins by Cropper Hopper. Then I came across the sturdier 3 section ones also by Cropper Hopper and have been gradually switching over to them. Again my organization is fairly basic – like color groups together, dotted together, holiday patterns together and other patterns together.

The deep shelves also house all of my stamps and other items. I knew I wanted shallow drawers so they would not be difficult to dig through and I found these sets of three fit perfectly on the shelves.

I do not have them labeled yet but because they are clear it is easy enough to see the contents. Again I went for ease of organization – I classify them by broad category – birthday, Christmas, collage, floral. This prevents me from spending too much time putting things away when I have let them pile up!

To the right of the shelves is my daughter’s craft area – of course I had to include space for her! She has a child’s craft table and lots of plastic drawers for her own use as well as more drawers for my use!

Her area could use a little straightening!

Because I do so many different things I needed a lot of workspace and I get that with my large tables. I have a space for sewing, building miniatures, working with polymer clay, electronic die cutting, painting and papercrafting! I also have a small old table we had that is set up for photographing my projects.

For anyone who blogs or submits photographs of their work for publication, a good spot for photos is essential. I purchased an inexpensive yard of material which is tacked to the wall so I have a pure white background. Lighting is also essential!

Even though I had ample workspace I was seriously lacking in storage. After trying a number of different things I found I liked the plastic storage drawers the most for a number of reasons. First, they come in such a wide variety of sizes and configurations. I can get exactly the size, number and depth drawers I need for whatever I need to store in them. Second, I can see through them and know right away what is in them. Finally, the drawers are removable. I can grab the one I need and pull it out to use whatever is inside. Now I don’t need to do this for all of them but for something like my colored pencils this is quite handy – I pull it out and can place it where ever I am working, even take it upstairs.

On top of the table I have sets of smaller drawers.

These keep items like acrylic blocks and a variety of embellishments handy when I need them. In addition, I have a variety of sizes beneath all of the tables.

Because my main work area is a spiral I have plenty of space yet everything is within easy reach!

If you are like me and have oodles of little bottles on hand, a spice rack might be just what you need. I found these at target several years ago but I think I may need to add another one!

Of course I acquire books nearly as fast as I acquire supplies so I have a tall bookshelf tucked in one corner.

My cricut cartridges take up far less space using the Scrap-cesories boxes! You can see my Cricut machines and my polymer clay roller on either side. Having the space to keep items out and accessible means I make better use of them!

As I mentioned, our basement floor plan is open so I can see what is going on, watch TV, interact with other family members who may be down there with me.

My workspace ready to go! I have ample lighting set up as well as my video camera for filming. Today I will be working with my Luminarte Artist Pigments and so I have easily pulled out the drawer and can see them all! I have a variety of buckets from the Target $1 spot which hold pens, markers, paint brushes, scissors, etc. (I swear by the Ranger water bucket!)

One final item I will mention that has been invaluable is the power strip you can barely see going across the back of my worktable. It is 5’ I think and has plug sockets every few inches. This allows me to keep everything plugged in as well as plug something in temporarily.

What is your best organizing tip? How do you keep your supplies in order?

Welcome to another issue of the FaveCrafts Craft Rooms Exposed series! As promised in our monthly craft question post, every day this week we’ll be featuring the inside of a famous craft designer’s craft room. Get inside tips from some of our favorite bloggers and designers and find out how they turn their craft rooms into lean, mean crafting machines! And now without further ado, let’s explore our first featured craft room.

Craft Room Tips and Tricks: Using shoe racks and hanging mesh/cloth shelves helps me be able to see what is in storage. Plus it gives me space to rotate out supplies from the tables if I need more table top space to work a particular project.

Welcome to the third issue of the FaveCrafts Craft Rooms Exposed series! As promised in our monthly craft question post, every day this week we’ll be featuring the inside of a famous craft designer’s craft room. Get inside tips from some of our favorite bloggers and designers and find out how they turn their craft rooms into lean, mean crafting machines! And now without further ado, let’s explore our first featured craft room.

Craft Room Tips and Tricks:I like to use recycled/repurposed items when organizing my craft room. For my most-used ribbons, I thread the spools onto a pants hanger. The swing-out arms make it easy to load as well as switch out when I use them up.For my day-to-day crafting essentials, I use an old library card catalog from a school. They were switching over to a digital system, and these were going to be trashed! Lucky for me, my mother-in-law rescued them for me and now they hold my stamp pads, inks, jewelry-making supplies, and punches- everything I need to keep on-hand for daily crafting!

Welcome to the very first issue of the FaveCrafts Craft Rooms Exposed series! As promised in our monthly craft question post, every day this week we’ll be featuring the inside of a famous craft designer’s craft room. Get inside tips from some of our favorite bloggers and designers and find out how they turn their craft rooms into lean, mean crafting machines! And now without further ado, let’s explore our first featured craft room.

How do you organize your craft room?My studio is all the quilt things I use most of the time. Finished quilts, books, and other craft supplies are not stored here, the room is too small!

What are your best-kept organizational secrets? I prefer to keep my fabric in bins and use similar colors (red or red/white). That way I reduce visual clutter. I spend 12 hours a day in this room working and I like it tidy.

Favorite storage products or tips?I do have a scrapbook ‘tower’ for my threads. I have a lot of thread.. wink!

My craft stash is a mess. I have a ton of supplies in random boxes throughout my apartment and I need to get a handle on gathering it all together in one place. I’m on a hunt to find decorative storage and organization tips from all you crafters out there on how to get my crafty treasures in order. This, my friends, is mission number one.

Mission number two is to spend as little money as possible on organizational systems. Why spend money when I can reuse what I already have to get myself organized? So today I bring you repurposed, upcycled, and crafty DIY storage ideas for all your craft supplies…so let’s get organizing!

Chances are you have the best storage devices for beads, embellishments, and other small items in your kitchen right now. When it comes to keeping small things organized, there’s no need to buy tons of little jars and bottles…simply browse around your kitchen for unused muffin tins, egg cartons, and ice cube trays.

Yup, these storage containers make scrapbook storage and organization a breeze…not to mention they stack up and store away easily to allow for a cleaner and clutter free workspace.

When it comes to the bigger small stuff, like scissors, tape, and glue, nothing works better than a multi-pocket shoe organizer. Who would have thought? These over-the-door shoe organizers are great for craft supplies.

For those who enjoy the fine art of illustration and painting canvas boards, these shoe organizers are top-notch marker and paint bottle organizers. If you’d rather have your markers and colored pencils close at hand, this Water Bottle Supply Organizer is a great resource. Made from recycled plastic bottles, this storage system is cost effective and easy to make.

I also love this idea for organizing my colored pencils. I’m always on the hunt for ideas for making handmade greeting cards, so keeping my cardstock and colored pencils close at hand is a definite need. With this storage system, I can clean out my recycling bin and satisfy my slight OCD problem to have all my colored pencils together with like colors. This just makes me happy. There’s no other way to put it.

Ribbons

Can we discuss how brilliant this is? What a great way to keep all your ribbons organized and ready for crafting and wrapping! DIY ribbon organization is where I plan to start when it comes time to organizing my crafts. While this ribbon tote is a great idea, I also love this ribbon organizer! It’s so easy to make…all you need is a shoe box and some dowels. I definitely think I can manage that!

Yarn and Needles

WHY did it take me so long to find this? What a great idea for storing yarns and knitting needles! This project requires a collapsible crate, a basket, or some receptacle you have that you are willing to recover with fabric.

If sewing isn’t really your thing, try this Yarn Storage Box, made with Mod Podge and unfinished wooden boxes. Not only does it provide ample storage for yarn and craft needles, but you can decorate it to match your home décor so you can store your supplies out in the open!

Now, anyone who knows me knows I LOVE my coffee! Can’t start a day without it! But did you know that all those coffee canisters can be put to good use once the beans are gone? By attaching like-sized canisters together, you can create yarn storage solutions that are effective and decorative! Even if you’re not yo-yo for yarn, you can easily upcycle aluminum cans to help you organize your other craft supplies.

Fabric

I absolutely am in love with these fabric storage cabinets! I love how colorful and organized that looks! All you would need here is some stiff cardboard to wrap your fabric scraps around. Then simply display them in an empty bookcase or cabinet.

So there you have it! A good handful of DIY projects to help you get organized for a new year of crafting! Not in the mood to DIY? Check out these awesome craft room organization ideas and products from Cut Rate Crafts. Many of the systems are available for purchase through the site…so you can get to organizing your creative mind ASAP.

Now, just because you’re storing and organizing doesn’t mean you have to disregard decorating! Your craft room can be useful and beautiful—just check out this tips on how to Decorate and Organize Your Craft Room. Ah, if only I had a craft room…

We want to hear your hints, tricks, and tips when it comes to craft storage and organization! Feel free to comment below and tell us what has worked for you! Happy crafting!

You know the drill…new year, new chance at organizing your life. It’s time to tie your hair back and get to de-cluttering…and what better way to start the process of organizing than by making some easy homemade headbands to keep the hair out of your face? We’ve done some of the dirty work and compiled a slew of homemade headbands from all over the web to suit all kinds of ages, hair lengths, and styles.

Whether you’re looking for something fancy and flowery, like this beautiful Flowers in Your Hairband, or want something a little more practical and comfortable, like one of these Marbled Silk Hair Bands, we’ve got unique headbands for all! If you need a little extra flair, be sure to check out our other homemade hair accessories for everything from practical use to fabulous hair flair.

Now, let’s get down to business. Here are some awesome headbands for people of all ages and styles. Gather up those flowers, feathers, and fabric squares!

Every single year, I do the same thing. I make a New Year’s resolution to organize my life, and then I promptly fail to carry out my goal. Sometimes, I’ll begin cleaning up and tidying everything, but I tend to get so busy and distracted with other things that I usually just shove everything in a closet and jam the door closed. Most of the time, I hardly even know where to begin.

Since I tend to migrate between several different cities, the travel organizers are perfect for me. The Jewelry Roll Tutorial will allow me to bring all of my favorite necklaces, earrings and bracelets without the whole lot turning into a tangled mess. Plus, with the Cool Car Caddy that straps onto the back of my seat, I might actually unearth the floorboard of my car one of these days.

Granted, I’m a bit obsessed with organizational supplies. The thought that I might be able to see my bedroom floor and rediscover the surfaces of my end tables makes me feel a little giddy. But really, the whole collection is fantastic. Check out these sewing organizer patterns in 18 Craft Organizers: Sewing Organizer Patterns for the New Year on AllFreeSewing.com and live up to the promise of New Year’s resolutions for 2012!

Having only done a few shows, I’ve been spoiled with the level of organization of some events and the disorganization of others.

I’ve worked with the Creativ Festival in Toronto Ontario. It would be the first show I ever worked with back in October 2010. I couldn’t believe the level of organization it takes to get that show from seed to full blown 1000’s of guests per hour walking through the show. An estimated 30,000 – 40,000 guests tromping on through. Remarkably, they have an 80 page brochure on what courses are available. All this strategical planning is simply mind boggling but they do it and do it extremely well.

Starting off with a show that is super organized, I figured all shows are like this. I’ve already seen dishonesty from show organizers from over stating their attendance and even the value of being with their show.

One show in the USA, I have emailed them 3 times requesting what their expected attendance is and have waiting 6 weeks to get some responses. I have seen where show organizers are contacting me within a week of finally acknowledging my email and still and still expecting me to be available.

How to pick a good one:

Google it?

What are people saying about this event?

Is the location where the event is making sense for the organizer’s claim?

Is the dollar value of the booth worth the traffic or what you hope to achieve?

When you request info, do they get back to you or leave you hanging?

Are they more concerned to sell than educate you about the show?

Consumer’s expected at the show, remember that a show of 40,000 guests may be just as good as a 5,000 guests. The 5,000 may be more dedicated to the crafting where the larger show may be a great rainy day event. Your sales could be better with smaller events!

I have yet to make money at doing an event as I am doing it to gain exposure. Eventually though, it is the hope that my own popularity and consumer interest will drive my booth costs down and increase my value to be part of the organization.

Sometimes you want to take a chance as you could meet consumers that may make a difference in your future.

Essentially, do your homework! Make sure you read critiques from a non bias point of view. Someone selling knitting machines may have sucked really bad but the sew machine vendor totally kicked some serious cash in the same show. Understand the consumer draw for the show.

I may or may not have an obsession with jewelry. Okay, I’ll just admit it. I love jewelry. I am always collecting (and making) new earrings, necklaces and bracelets. So, I needed an easy (and big) way to store all my jewelry. Drum roll, please. Here’s what I made!

So, I found this cabinet at the local thrift store…only it was SO UGLY. So, I painted it black and spruced it up. (It desperately needed some excitement.) So, of course I pulled out the Mod Podge and my favorite black and white designed paper and went to work.

But that wasn’t good enough for me.

I also Mod Podged the inside! (The husband thinks I’m insane.) I thought it would be fun if each of the drawers had their own design. Eventually I’m going to make some labels for them, I just haven’t got around to it yet.

I wish I had before and after shots of this project, but just take my word for it … it looks much better now.

Materials:

Mod Podge

Scrapbook Paper

Paint

Jewelry Cabinet

Total Cost: $50

So, there you have it. Seven fun and easy things you can do with Mod Podge.

Oh, and in case you were wondering what my next craft project is…well, take a look at this UGLY table I found at the thrift store yesterday for $5. Five dollars! I couldn’t resist it.

My husband asked me why I bought such an ugly table. Obviously he doesn’t have the vision, but I can see great possibilities with this table. This weekend I’m pulling out my paint and Mod Podge and going to work. Don’t you think it’ll be a great corner table? Just imagine it black…with some cute embellishments. I can hardly wait to get crafting! Wish me luck!

Nichole Nelson admits she’s a Mod Podge addict and craftaholic. She’s a self-proclaimed word nerd and writer for TopTenREVIEWS by day and an avid crafter by night. In her spare time, she enjoys crafting (obviously), reading and trying to help her sweet husband understand her love for all things crafty.

Full Project Tutorials

Welcome to Day 22 of our National Craft Month celebrations! We’ve been having such an amazing time sharing exciting and fun craft tutorials with you every day since March 1st! As a bonus to the fabulous craft tutorials we’ve been featuring, we’ve also been offering prizes each and every day of National Craft Month. If […]